would help the federal regime. >> they look to washington over the next few years and see that the ideas are not working. they're dragging us down. when washington hits a wall, which we know they will, the friends of freedom here in south carolina and all over the country are going to be ready, not with political ideas but with american ideas, ideas that we know are working and can point to and show that they're working for 100% of americans. that's what i'm going to be doing the next few years. i'm not getting out of the fight. i'm raising my game. i know that i have got a partner now in tim scott as well as lindsey graham and governor haley and all of you that are here today.

i am so grateful for the opportunity to serve. i promise you and i'm going to keep serving and fighting in the same way that you have seen in the past. thank you. [applause] >> and i can tell you that one of the things as i travel across the country, everyone always wants to know how in the world we got the best federal delegation in the country. all i tell them is that south carolina is blessed. we have a great group of legislators that fight every day, that get what we want and they fight for it. they just don't go along with the pack. they fight for it. i am so thankful that so many members came to be supportive of tim. i want to make sure that we have our senior senator speak who i often, who i enjoy working with and who has been there every time i have called him, senator lindsey graham. [applause] >> thank you, thank you very

much. well, tim, if you add up all of the courses that we flew together, people will begin to understand how the government works. here is the good news. i made 80 on s.a.t. and i'm one of the smarter ones over there. don't worry, you're going to do really well. as to jim, i think we have been doing this for almost 20 years and if there is ever a contest for marrying over your head, jim might win that for sure. debbie is, i really enjoy your family. you got four great kids and grandkids coming almost every month, it seems like, but debbie has been a great partner to you and a great friend to me. i want to acknowledge her and i know, i think her life is going to have some stability it hasn't had before. you started your career as a very much excited, motivated

strong but quiet voice and some people ask me, what happened to jim? let me tell you what happened to jim. jim felt that the country is not going to change without somebody making it change. so out of a sense of frustration that you had to do things sometimes almost by yourself. i'm here to tell you you change things and we appreciate the hell out of it. you're leaving the senate is going to be tough. together we were able to put south carolina on the map sometimes whether we wanted to or not, but i have really enjoyed the experience of taking the issues of our day, whether it be at home or in washington and try to push the envelope. so when you leave, jim, i want you to realize that all of us understand, particularly over the last four years, you took

the road less traveled in washington. it is not your nature to be the only voice and the fact that you were willing to do it shows me how much you care about our country, our state, and you will be someone who will be listened to because of what you have done for the last four years. we're better off for it. i will miss you. governor haley, it's like picking a judge. you make one ingreats and 100 people mad at you. filling the seat must have been tough. look at the people she could have chosen from. we have a deep bench in south carolina, people in government and out of government. you chose wisely. if these walls could talk, what would they say? just think of the conversations that have happened in this building during the history of

our state. i can't help but say the obvious. yes, you did earn everything that comes your way, tim, but this is a day that's been long in the making in south carolina. i'm very proud to see it come. now, about tim, the pay is the same. [laughter] >> miss scott, i can only imagine how you feel today. all of that work and effort and apparently some whipping, i was so good, i never got whipped. that's not true either. but miss scott, i just want to say that we acknowledge what you have done and there are so many people like you in this state, in this nation. i'm sure that tim counts his blessings every day to have the family and friends that he has had as to our delegation.

if you don't have a key chain, you will by the end of the day. joe is the dean of the house delegation. i have never met anyone who enjoys his job more. i mean, you can't go anywhere without being joe and going everywhere with a smile on his face, he and roxanne have raised four boys all in the military. the military has no stronger friend than joe wilson and we know and we appreciate it. nick, you're going to be the next paul ryan, just keep being the guy who you are. he is wicked smart. he is a problem-solver. he is going to advance the conservative cause on the fiscal side and watch this guy, he will be the next paul ryan. trey, you're home bred as much as i am, which is pretty impressivement trey comes from the most conservative part of the state. he can throw a punch, but he does it in a way that his colleagues on both sides of the aisle respect him. there is no stronger voice in the house of representatives on

legal issues fast and furious, benghazi, the way you conducted yourself in front of the nation makes us all proud. jeff couldn't be here. he has passed legislation that would make this nation energy independent. that is pretty impressive for somebody that has been in the house for one term and newly elected. tom, you bring to the table problem solving. you're chairman of the county council. you understand your district has got a lot of opportunity. you're the cash cow for the state. all of us are going to myrtle beach one day. that's the american dream to go to myrtle beach and he brings height to the delegation. so welcome. tim, the only advice i can give you is that you got here by being tim scott, not lindsey graham, not jim demint, just keep being tim scott and that will be good for our state. you have a unique opportunity for the conservative cause. you have unique burdens. i want to help you where i can.

anything my office can do to help you get started we will do. the only advice i can give you is just keep being the good person you are. the thing about tim, not only is he good at being a congressman, he'll be a great senator. he is a better person than he is a politician. [applause] >> i think just being you, you can inspire kids in a way unique and you can do more good in many ways than any piece of legislation. so i just can't wait to work with you. jim, i will miss you. governor, you're tough. you're one tough lady. you put up with more crap than anybody i know in politics. i just want to be that blunt about it. i want to help you because you're very enthusiastic about selling this state. i have been around for a while now. i have never seen anybody work harder to put our state on the

map in terms of business. you're recruiting some of the most important business enterprises and this nation is now looking at south carolina. so the whole delegation stands behind you and what we can do to seal the deal, we will do. as to our nation, these are tough times. 2013 is going to be one heck of a challenge. how do you get the revenue and the spending right? the one thing i can tell you about tim, he understands math. if you spend a lot more than you make over a long period of time, you're going to destroy the american dream. that's what's at risk here. jim, help us outside the body save the american dream. i don't see how young people in the future can do as well as all of us unless we make some changes and we make them now. so we're here at a tough time for the country with a terrible tragedy in connecticut. we got our back against the wall financially.

the world is more dangerous than anytime i have seen since i have been in government, but i would want to end this optimistic. there is nothing we can't do as a people and a state if we continue to work together. remember we're a blessed nation. there is no substitute for american leadership and when it comes to trying to explain what america is all about, i could not tell a better story than the story tim scott. tim is what america is all about. [applause] >> as you can tell, i'm one proud governor. we are one proud state today. i want to thank everybody here. i know you have questions and we can open it up to anyone here on what you have.

>> governor with the appointment on the republican effort -- [inaudible] >> the one thing that the republican party needs to understand is the answer to winning elections is never about the messenger. it's never about what the messenger looks like. it is about the message. and that is what needs to be understood by our party is that the message of what we believe in and letting the market work and the fact that we need to be fiscally conservative, and the fact that you can't continue to raise the debt over and over again and think something is going to fix it. the fact that you have to make sure that you're creating pro business environments. it's the reason that this place and this time, you are seeing south carolina be successful because of results, not because of what the governor looks like. you're going to see the u.s. senate become stronger because of the results of tim scott, not because of what he looks like. so this is not -- that's why i said he earned this spot.

i understand that we made history today and i am proud that we made history today. i also believe in the people of south carolina and the people of this country. as the daughter of indian immigrants that saw early on that you can be anything you want to be and nothing can get in your way, i want to remind everybody that is not the messenger, it will always be the message. tim scott has the right message. >> [inaudible] >> from my perspective, if you get the message right and you market it well, people listen. america is still a center right nation. the fact is that the better we get at marketing our message, the more it will resonate. i think fresh faces and authenticity goes a long way in the political process. you don't have to save the best, but you have to go there. we'll go to new places and new territories and new lands in many ways. this message of conservatism

will reach the ends of the nation in a positive way. i look forward in the future to take the message as we have been to the rest of the nation. >> [inaudible] >> senator jim or senator lindsay? >> you. i was thinking senator elect still. >> remember this humble moment. [laughter] >> say that question again? >> what does it mean to you personally? >> i think what it means to me personally is that 18 years ago, the citizens of charleston county gave me the right to represent them based on values and issues. a couple years later, the folks in state house seat 117 gave me the opportunity to represent their issues and values. a few years ago, the first

district gave me an opportunity to represent their issues and values. i have never really heard on the campaign trail, beside the fact that you're black or because you're black, here is what we want to do. they have asked me questions about values and issues. that is an amazing thing. it speaks to the evolution of south carolina and of our nation. it speaks to the heart of the good people in our nation and specifically of our state. i would say this, more importantly than the complexion that i have, i think back to growing up in a single-parent household. i would love to speak to the single moms out there and say don't give up on your kids. it may get tough. it may be challenging. all things are truly possible in this nation. i was speaking with jim cliburn, another part of the family here. i was speaking to him on thursday. what do you think? i don't know what to think. we sat there for a few minutes and just chatted. i will tell you that when it comes to things that are specific to south carolina, our

delegation works incredibly well as a team. >> senator scott, you received a lot of support publicly. [inaudible] >> not if i'm smart. >> [inaudible] if you are elected to the senate, is there someone -- >> i haven't had enough time to think about senator term limits. i do believe in term limits still. i worked in the statehouse. i guaranteed it in the u.s. house. i will certainly have a certain number of terms. if you start in the middle, where do you go from there. i think 12 to 14 years from this point is a good place, a good number, two full terms would be fantastic. i better win the first one or the second one doesn't really matter much. >> [inaudible] >> any understanding is january 3. >> you have some experience in

washington. is there any kind of change? what do you think you can accomplish now that you're a senator? >> i think the first thing that i'll realize is that south carolina becomes the tire capital of the country. i'm glad. i will be putting more miles on my tires going across this state. i have two years to represent the entire state and being re-elected in 2014. we work on in the senate the same as in the house. when you look at the problems in our country, they are simply spending problems primarily. we cannot address from congress many of the issues and challenges that really affect americans. that's something that starts at home. the things that we can affect in congress and the congress being the senate is a spending trajectory. where are we going as a nation? when you're borrowing 42 cents on the dollar to spend it, you're probably on the wrong track. when you have a $16 trillion debt, you're probably on the

wrong track. your entitlement reform is so far removed from the conversation and spending reform is so far removed from the conversation, you're definitively, definitely on the wrong track. if we are going to continue to grow our economy, we have look at pro growth principals and make sure that is what undergirards the -- undergirds the history of america. overnight in the first 12 months, you eliminate about 700,000 new jobs. you tack that on top of the regulatory reform, you're talking another 800,000 jobs lost in america. that is 1.5 million more americans out of work on top of 23 million americans. that's not the right direction. my direction would start with the conversation of tax reform and spending control. >> [inaudible]

>> i would think that most americans are members of the tea party principally. we believe in limited government. you believe in lower taxes. you believe in keeping the government out of your pockets. you believe in free markets. those with the basic tenets of the tea party, i hope we all believe in that. >> is that a yes? >> that would be a decisive yes. >> [inaudible] >> look at the scorecard with heritage action, he was a 98 and i was closing in on a 09. there were a couple of votes that separated us. the bank may have been one of the more well known votes. other than that, i'm not quite sure where we disagree. i would think philosophically

we would be on the same page and we work together. i look forward to hearing from the senator as president of the heritage action. >> last question. >> [inaudible] >> great question. i think if john was here with me, he would say, tim, don't forget it's not about going up in life. it's about moving forward. we define that differently. some see the senate as a move up and i certainly do as well in a way. i'm hoping that the message that the good lord has placed in my heart gives it a shot and a leap forward, that we'll have the opportunity to let the message of real hope and opportunity resonate in places where it hasn't been before. so i hope what john would say to me is celebrate for about 24 hours and get back to work. thank you all very much. [applause]

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> the house of representatives is in recess until 6:30 eastern tonight when the house comes back, we're expecting a vote on legislation that would allow natural gas pipeline permitting in glacier national park. that's live on espn. off the floor, negotiations continue on avoiding the tax increases an spending cuts scheduled to take effect in january. and on thursday, two congressional hearings, the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya, at 9:00 they hear from deputy secretary of state william burns and the deputy of secretary of state for management and resources. they testify again thursday afternoon before the house foreign affairs committee at 1:30 p.m. eastern. both are live on c-span 3. secretary of state hillary clinton was scheduled to testify but she cancelled after

falling in her home and suffering a concussion. ♪ ♪ >> if we turn away from the needs of others, we align ourselves with those forces which are bringing about less suffering. >> the white house is a bully pulpit and you ought to take advantage of it. >> obesity in this country is nothing short of a public health crisis. >> i think i just had little antennas that went up and told me when somebody had their own agenda. >> so much influence in that office. it would be just a shame to waste it. >> i think they serve as a window on the past to what was going on with american women. >> she becomes the chief confidant. >> she is really in the way the only one in the world he can

trust. >> many of the women who were first ladies, they were writers, a lot of them were writers, journalists. they wrote books. >> they are in many cases quite frankly more interesting as human beings than their husbands. if only because they are not first and foremost defined and consequently limited by political ambition. >> dolly was both socially adept and politically savvy. >> dolly madison loved every minute of it. mrs. monroe mated it, absolutely hated it. >> she warned her husband, you couldn't move without including what women want and what women have to contribute. >> during this statement, you are a little breathless and it was too much looking down and i think it was a little too fast, not enough change of pace. >> yes, ma'am. >> he is probably the most tragic of all of our first ladies. >> they never should have married. >> she later wrote in her

memoir that she said, i, myself, never made any decisions. i only decided what was important and when to present it to my husband. now, you stop and think about how much power that is, it's a lot of power. >> prior to the battle against cancer is to fight the fear that accompanies the disease. >> she transformed the way we look at these bugaboos and made it possible for countless people to survive and to flourish as a result. i don't know how many presidents realistically have that kind of impact on the way we live our lives. >> just walking around the white house grounds, i am constantly reminded about all of the people who have lived there before and particularly all of the women. >> first ladies, influence and

image, a new series on c-span produced in cooperation with the white house historical association starting presidents day, february 18. >> ohio's electoral college met today at the state capital in columbus. had electors cast their 18 votes for barack obama for president and joe biden for vice president. president obama won 51% of the vote in ohio. >> this is the 53rd meeting of the ohio electrical college. i electoral college. i would like to thank you for coming and welcome you to these procedures. i would like all who are gathered here today to stand for a moment of silent prayer or reflection for the victims, their families and our country as we mourn the deaths of the children and school officials in newtown, connecticut.

>> thank you. to lead us through the preliminary matters and to provide us with a welcoming address, i would like to pass the gavel to congresswoman elect, joyce beatty. >> thank you very much, secretary husted. we begin with an innovation. at this time i would like to ask the reverend angela simmons to please come up. let us pray. almighty god, we gather here

together today as people from many different faith traditions, yet we share a bond that is deep and enduring, a profound and abiding belief in justice and peace for all of your children. from the rolling hills of new england to the sunny beaches of california and beyond even the borders of this hallowed land. together today we meet to celebrate this democracy, lord, with which you have blessed us and we assemble to cast the votes that will elect the next president of these united states of america. we pray that each person casting a vote does so with a pure mind, heart, and soul seeking the very best and the

highest good for the people of this great nation, economic stability, moral integrity, and the ability to lead the world as a true example of freedom and fairness. we pray for the president, that he may be strengthened daily by your grace, that he may constantly remember his calling as both a leader for and a servant of the people and that we, the citizens of these united states, those who have elected him might be his ever constant source of encouragement as he seeks to fulfill his duties and obligations. and finally, lord, we ask you to inspire all those who have been entrusted to elected

office, that they may search deep within their hearts and find the way to work with one another and with the president for the good of this country, the world, and the children who come after us. amen. >> amen. please remain standing as the columbus police honor guard now presents the colors.

at this time i would like to ask state senator nina turner to come forward and lead us in reciting the pledge of allegiance. >> good afternoon. will you all join me. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america. and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> and finally, please remain standing for our national anthem which will be sung by miss debbie parker and, please, feel free to join in. ♪ oh, say can you see ♪ ♪ by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ what so proudly we hailed ♪

♪ at the twilight's last gleaming ♪ ♪ whose broad stripes and whose broad stripes the watchedmparts were so gallantly streaming? and the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof tonight that our flag was still there o say, does that start-spangled banner yet wave

o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? ♪ ♪ [applause] >> thank you, and you may be seated.

electoral votes by the number of congressional members. today i stand in this well being honored as one of those to serve

in the united states congress. two additional members will have the honor of providing ohio the privilege to cast 18 electoral college votes in favor of the candidate who won our state's general election. as citizens of this great state, our views, our opinions are valuable, and our 18 electoral college votes helped decide who becomes the president of the united states and who does not. as a citizen of this date, i am so proud to call ohio home. i joined the 11 million other citizens, the citizens from 241 cities, 681 villages, and more than 1300 townships.

ohio is called the mother of presidents. it is the home of eight great ohioans who have become president of these united states. president william henry harrison, benjamin harrison, william mckinley, william howard taft, james abrams garfield, warren harding, u.s. grant, and rutherford hayes. it is my pleasure today to state that today ohio's ohio electoral college members will cast their votes to elect president barack obama. the united states constitution federal law and ohio law all recalled this group as individuals who will organize themselves as the ohio college

of electoral, according to the ohio revised code. it specifies the secretary of state shall convene the electoral college. so i will now pass the gavel back to the secretary of state, n hustend.john jews d -- husted. >> thank you, congresswoman- elect beatty. one of the traditions of democracy is the orderly transition of power, or in this case, the retention of its. this orderly transition of power, particularly as it relates to the power of the

presidency, makes america great and unique. it is a tradition that has withstood the test of time and is an honor for me and for all of us to play our role in this perspective chapter of our state's and haitian's history. as required by law, all public tours have been notified of the time and place of this meeting. electors had until noon to appear at this meeting of the electoral college, and it should reflect that the time now is 12:12 pm therefore, the first order of official business will be to e the rolls to ascertain if all members are present. i now ask connie pillich to call the role of a lack tors.

>> present. >> here >>present >> present >>present. >> here, ma'am. >> present. >>present. >> here. >> present. i beg your pardon, mr. elector for. host: host: mr. elector. >> present. >> here. >> present. >> present.

>>present. >> present. >> present. >> present. mr. secretary, all electoral members are present. >> i asked maureen o'connor, chief justice of the ohio supreme court, to come forward and administer the oath of office to the members of this electoral college. >> thank you, and a course, i asked you to stand and raise your right hand. if you will repeat after me --

i, solemnly swear, that i will support, obey, and to defend the constitution of the united states and the constitution and laws of the state over ohio, and that i will faithfully discharge the duties of my office as i shall answer on to god. congratulations. >> thank you. i will now entertain nominations for the chairman of the 53rd ohio electoral college. at this time i would glycol on wade. >> mr. secretary, i nominate chris rudford.

-- redfern. >> are there any other nominations? >> i move that nominations for chairman be close. >> it has been moved that nominations for the chairman be close. is there a second? >> i second the nomination to be closed. >> kevin seconded the motion that nominations be close. all in favor signify by saying aye. those opposed? the ayes have it. all in favor of chris redfern been chairman of the 53rd ohio saying aye.llege chairman, please come forward to except the ceremonial got --

gavel and provide over the meeting. >> thank you, secretary fea husted, and welcome. this historic election, the first to be carried by a democrat twice in ohio by more than 50% of the vote since franklin delano roosevelt, reflects the effort, work, diligence of those present the and a properly those not present. to our friends in the campaign, that you for your leadership. to those who supported our efforts all across this important state, make you for your support. directly -- i would like to

recognize members of the senate and house the ship today as well as the members of the general assembly president. i would like to personally thank secretary husted. our effort continues beyond today. as we are reminded by the opening prayer, our effort begins anew. to all the presents, congratulations. this historic day marks as what's the secretary of state so aptly pointed out the retention of power and another four years for president obama. ops on behalf of the ohio democratic party and those who supported the campaign of the president, i simply say thank you. with that i would like to recognize and bring to the podium the former governor of the state of ohio, governor ted strickland.

>> the scriptures remind us that god is not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. our country faces many, many difficult challenges. we have witnessed the horror of recent days. we have been engaged in foreign wars. we have budget challenges that confront the leadership in washington even as we meet here today. but i believe this is a good day. i believe it is a good day because we are here to

celebrate, as secretary husted indicated, we're here to celebrate a peaceful election that has resulted in the retention -- could have been a transfer of power -- but we know in any event it would have been peaceful and accepted by the american people. that is our form of self- governance and one that we should honor and protect. last night i was thinking back over my own political career, and i realized that in my political time i have won seven elections, and i have lost five elections. but i can tell you that on every election day in which i have been involved, regardless of the

outcome, i have considered that event to be a magnificent event. the campaign for offices in our country, we spend money and run tv ads and make speeches, and then finally the people speak, and the people speak by collectively registering their opinions as to who they choose to have lead us, and that is magnificent, regardless of who is the winner or who is the loser. and that is why we are here today, to celebrate that, to cast our votes as a let tors -- as electors, we should also remember, i believe, that we are one family in this great country of ours. we are black and white, we are brown, we are republicans and

democrats. we are conservatives and liberals. we are gays and straights. we are from every part of this great country of ours, every region, small-town, large city, rural areas. but there is something that binds the americans together that i believe is unique among the nation's of the earth, and we are celebrating a part of that you need this today. and so, as we contemplate the future, let us remember that god has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound bite. thank you. -- and of a sound mind.

thank you. >> thank you, governor strickland. i now ask for a motion to designate the secretary of state as the ex-officio official. >> i moved jon hustend be designated as the axle official secretary of the 53rd electoral college. bemoving that mr. husted designated. all those in favor by seeing aye. opposed? ayes have it. secretary, will you please return to the podium.

we elect torrors are about to ct our votes for president of the united states. the procedures are set forth in the 12th amendment. separate of votes are to be taken for each of us on separate ballots. after the votes have been cast and counted and the results announced come electors will sign 6 original copies stating the results. the secretary of the state's office has prepared certificates of votes in advance of this process. will you further explain the procedure we are to follow today. >> thank you. according to the 12th amendment, and 3505-.39 of the

ohio code come each elector must vote sever late. each will find the presidential ballot in their folders on their desks. each will signed their ballots at this time, and my staff will collect each ballot from each elector. please sign your presidential ballots in accordance with instructions. the secretary's staff will collect them and deliver them. to the tellers, ask that you hold those ballots until elect cast their votes for the vice president.

hon have the tellers collected all the votes? you may now sign all your vice

this presidential ballots, after which they will be collected and given to the tellers. have all the ballots that

collected? i would ask teller's proceed to counted the ballots, first, for president, and then for vice- president. upon the collection and accounting of the ballots, tellers will inform connie pillich and she will make the announcement. >> tellers determined that 18 votes had been cast for barack obama for president and 18 votes had been cast for joe biden for vice president. >> results of the tally are 18 votes for barack obama for president, and 18 votes for joe biden for price present. secretary, please explain the ectors are toleel proceed with.

>> title 3, chapter one, that of the united states code requires electors shall make ensign six certificates of all votes given by then. we have the six certificates of votes for you to sign on the table at the front of the chamber. these are the official certificates that must be forwarded to the president of the united states senate, the archivist of the united states, and united states district court, certifying that you have fulfilled your duties in electing the president and vice president at this electoral college. my staff will escort the let electors to the tables. be sure to sign all six copies.

electors will now sign this certificates of votes according to the secretary's instructions.

>> all the certificates of vote being signed, i asked for a motion that they may be delivered into the keeping of the secretary of state who will

distribute them as required by law. is there a motion? >>, i move that the signed certificates be delivered to the secretary for distribution as required by law. >> the motion has been offered. is there a second? >> second the motion. >> all in favor signify by saying aye. opposed? the motion carries, and the documents are delivered to the secretary of state who will deliver them by law. i would like to thank everyone for participating in this august gathering and thank members of the 53rd ohio electoral college. i would ask that the closing benediction be delivered.

reverend? >> please stand. the lord bless you and keep you, the lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you, the lord look upon every one of you with favre and give you -- with favor, ago with scott's peace. -- with god's peace. >> i move this meeting of the at ohio and electoral college be adjourned. >> is there a second? second ed. all in favor signify by saying aye. opposed to the hearing no objection, i declare the meeting of the 53rd ohio electoral

college be adjourned. hasenator daniel in theouye died. he was first elected in 1962 and is the most senior. his last words were "aloha." the house of representatives is in recess until 6:30 eastern tonight. when the house comes back, we expect votes on legislation that will allow gas pipeline permitting in glacier national park. negotiations continue on avoiding the spending cuts scheduled to take effect in january. >> i think the challenge for us as we want to be on every device for every person at every hour of the day, and we are a mobile

society. the challenge is to make sure that we are on pads, computers, phones, as well as the traditional feeling, which is in the living room, now on a wonderful high-definition television screen. yet a challenge we have obviously is that spectrum is a finite resource, and others want that resource, and yet there is not enough spectrum in the universe to do all video by broadband. so our architecture, one to everyone in a location, their system will always failed because simply of the congestion of transmitting video one to one. you cannot do that. >> a continued look at the future of television at 8:00 eastern on c-span2.

>> wednesday, a look at companies bringing manufacturing jobs back to the united states. we will talk with scott stossel . wednesday morning at 9:15 eastern he will take your phone calls at on c-span. as he sought a few minutes ago, ohio's select your college met today in columbus, and let met in all 50 states today all around the country. this morning we talked about how the electoral college works. host: james thurber is our guest with the american university presidential studies of which he is the director and professor. thank you for coming in today. guest: pleased to be here. host: you are here to talk about the electoral college. the election wrapped up over a month ago. why are we talking about the electoral college and what

happens today? guest: this is the next step in the election. the electoral college is not a place but a process. today is the process where the electors get together in each state, and they go through a complex process. but it is generally managed by the secretary of state or some other officials, and they give their votes for the electors in that state for a particular president. president obama has 332 electoral college votes and romney has 206. so in the states where romney won, those electors will vote for him. and in -- the next step is for them to send it to six different places in washington, d.c., but the main thing is they send a record of this to the senate. the senate than tallies them, puts them in two mahogany boxes. one box and --

they send it to the house of representatives where they officially open up the boxes and the elopes and at that point, count to see who has won. host: c-span will be covering the meetings in ohio and north carolina and coverage starts at noon eastern time with the ohio electoral college. 53rd meeting in columbus. you can watch the proceedings live from the ohio statehouse senate chamber on c-span 3. we will also be watching north carolina as its electoral college meets and it is all on our website, c-span.org. go there to find out more. james thurber, does anything unexpected happen when electoral college day occurs? we saw the voting process in november. are electoral college delegates committed? can anything different happen? guest: yes, something different can happen.

in 24 states they are required to vote the ticket that they are running on, these electors. so, they cannot be a faithless elector. we had nine cases since 1920 of them. one of them was actually here in washington, d.c., in 2000. she did not vote at all in protest over the fact that washington, d.c., does not have representation in congress. host: if you would like to talk with james thurber about the electoral college, here are the numbers to call -- the origins of the electoral college. where did it come from and why do we have the system? guest: it goes right to the founding. the founders wanted to not have the congress elect the president. they also wanted also to reflect

federalism and states' rights. so, they gave the right to the states to select the presidential candidate from each state. and so, the states in fact have the right to change the way they select the electors. in fact, in two states, nebraska and maine, they have proportional representation. meaning whoever wins in a particular congressional district gets that vote and whoever wins overall in the states get the two states. by the way, that is the electoral college. 435 state representatives and senators and three in washington, d.c. if we went by strict proportional representation, some people think it would have changed the outcome of this election and other elections -- no. if we have strict proportional representation, obama would have had 282 fewer electoral college votes and romney would

have more, 252, but obama would win because you need 270 to win. host: it was established in the 12th amendment, 535 electors in total. usually elected at state conventions and approved by voters. majority of 270 of the electoral votes are required to elect a president and vice president. the number of the state electors equals one for each house member and two for senators the most states except for maine and nebraska have a winner-take-all system. controversy -- how does it play out? guest: some of the criticisms of the electoral college is that it is really only the democracy in the world that does not have a popular vote for a president, a very powerful office. others that like the electoral

college feel that we would be urban-centric -- the urban areas and the big states, new york, california, and illinois, would have to much influence of a think there is a balance. others think that sent the candidates primarily go to these battleground states where it is too close to call to make up the 270 electoral college votes, that the other states get ignored and it suppresses turnout of therefore it is not good for democracy. so, there have been many amendments over the years. not many recently. they stopped in 1979. there was only one attempted to build this last session, 113th congress, did not go anywhere. many amendments attempted -- many states have innovations which we can talk about later if you like. to change the way they count the votes.

host: let's go to the phones and go to casey from atlanta, georgia. caller: good morning. and good morning to your guest. guest: good morning. caller: i believe that this conversation is so enlightening and informative. professor thurber can certainly -- i believe 1988, in the state of west virginia, there was a democratic elector that was pledged for the democratic nominee, governor dukakis. that democratic elector, when it was time -- and because west virginia did go democrat that year -- i seem to recall that that democratic elector chose not to cast their vote for

governor dukakis. and i did not believe this is one of the states where the elector was bound and required to support the nominee. i want to ask if you remember that particular situation. and also, in those states where there is no requirement, is there anything that could happen to an elector for not testing the vote for the candidate they were obligated to support in the first place. and i want to thank you for your time. guest: thank you for your question. sounds like you are a historian. you got it right. there was a faithless elector in west virginia. nothing happened to the individual and except for the fact he could never be an elector again and obviously -- probably got marginalized within the democratic party for doing that. there are rules in 24 states that you are required by law to do this. of the 9 faithless elector, one was in west virginia.

since 1920, none of those electors had affected the outcome of the election. what is the impact on the individual? they are ostracized from the party. they are pushed out of the party. they are not trusted any more. because it is a matter of trust when the parties select to the electors will be. you have an excellent memory, sir. host: karen from upper marlboro, maryland. independent line. caller: two questions. who picks the of the poor -- the electoral votes. and why is it not that the people -- [indiscernible] the tangible information we have in our possession.

we act like we are a country that is not a modernized country. in another country if it does not evoke they revote -- here the votes are not counted until later on. guest: request and a lot of people ask, especially when there is a close election that is a question a lot of people s, especially after a close election like 2000. selecting electors is done by the party organization in each state. they select people who are not public officials. that is in the law. they select people who represent the party, who are trusted. who are usually activists in the party, the democratic and republican party. third-party electors are rare, but that part of their selects them also and indeed there is a criticism of the system being one step away from the people. what you are really voting for going to the ballot are the electors for president obama on

mitt romney. not necessarily collecting them or the vice presidential candidate. by the way, the votes by the electors are separate for the president and vice president. two votes. following north carolina -- it used to be for years, in north carolina, they do give them a blank card and they write the name of the winner on that and handed in. in some states you already printed and you just put an x by it. host: do we see any different procedure or ethos in states where president obama won biola pour college vote versus former governor mitt romney? does anything different happen? guest: i don't think so. but i do think there is a movement among the states for a reform. some states would like to have proportional representation.

pennsylvania tried it, wisconsin started to do it this time. by the way, and nebraska has proportional representation and they have a bill pending in committee to get rid of it and have winner-take-all. but the main movement right now is for a national popular vote, interested come back. it sounds complex. it is a bunch of states saying we will pledge to vote this state, no matter what happened in the state, for whatever wins the popular vote in the united states. they are a long ways away from it. 138 electoral college votes -- maryland is one of them. california just came in. it seems like a movement towards that. so, it would be closer to the popular vote approach, which is more democratic in people's minds than this method. host: a viewer rights on twitter --

guest: district gerrymandering action does not make that much difference in this case. in california there are 55 electoral college votes. you could have a bunch of districts that are very states and even after of the redistricting in california -- it does not make any difference. if a presidential candidate wins by one vote, would take all, he gets all 53 congressional districts and two senate seats. host: did you hear any more or less talk this year leading up to the election of changing the electoral college or perhaps doing away with it altogether? guest: there is always discussion, especially among those and academia and media, let's see if we can do away with it. it would take a constitutional amendment. it has not gone anywhere. it got to the floor of the house and senate a couple of times and it is it. the realist are saying let us let the states change it through the national popular vote, interested compaq for

proportional representation. i see the future of this as the compact. before the election there was discussion about more stage joining that we could have a popular vote. host: alexandria, virginia, closed by to washington, d.c., and hear from republican, charles. caller: my memory may be a little fuzzy but i believe there was another situation of a so-called faithless elect gore, 1976, north carolina. i believe the elector voted for ronald reagan, who was not even on the ballot in 1976, which is entirely legal. most cannot understand that the elector has the power of attorney of the party and can legally vote for anybody they wish, bozo the clown, if they wanted. what i don't understand, people

never mix the two together, but the electoral college combined with a front loaded primary system where iowa and new hampshire and the early states get influence over the nomination are in excess of the size of the volume and people in the united states, combined with the electoral college, these two institutions together a possibly part of the reason why the lack of interest in the election and low voter turnout. if the nomination process could go through some changes as well as the general election, we might have the case of the presidency being more closely identified with the people, higher turnout, and so one. thank you. guest: excellent points. it was the state of washington, by the way, where there was faithless elector who voted for ronald reagan because he liked

him so much. yes, the nomination system in the united states, many people feel, need to reform. it is front loaded and a small rural state like iowa and new hampshire and north carolina. if you do not do well in those three, sometimes you are out of it. we saw it with romney this time, we saw it with obama -- we see it every time these early events in states that cannot represent the united states generally have an impact on the outcome of who gets the nomination there are a bunch of reforms -- that is another topic. another reform is to have reasonable primaries for parties, there for more diversity for people coming out and a candidate would have to reach out to more complex constituency. the third area of reform, as you know, is money in politics.

if you took the primaries, campaign finance and electoral college and i was a dictator and that could change all of them i think we would have something closer to what some people would feel as a representative democracy directly to the people. host: also brings up what happened in 1976, on twitter. we are talking with james ersity , american univ distinguished professor of government. founder of the center for congressional and presidential studies and the editor of the journal "congress and the presidency." here is the head line at "the washington post" fed page. josh hicks reports --

guest: i just got back from china, and we talked about the electoral college there, and a state that have a problem with freedom, you know, and democracy. they can't figure it out. i tried to explain to them and they still wonder why do we still have this if we were this representative democracy and the people have their way. very interesting. host: how did you answer the question? guest: i tried to explain the foundation. the fact we have federalism and states have power and in this particular case it is the power to select a president. they did not want congress to do it. but they still cannot buy it, i don't think. host: on twitter --

asking to explain the historical justification and why do we need it now. guest: the justification for it at the founding was they did not want congress to make the selection of the president. they wanted to take away from the capital where maybe chicanery would occur and people would do deals. they wanted it to respect federalism, a federal election rather than a national legend. it was very explicit in the debate. and then there was changed that they brought in to washington d.c. and they expanded the basis of it. basically, if was a way to protect small states, but also to protect federalism and to not have a situation like a parliament, where in the united kingdom the house of commons selects the prime minister. they did not want congress doing out here. host: let's hear from robert on

the democrat's line. caller: are you related to the writer robert berber. and secondly, would you need to have a license for federally related issues? guest: very few people even know who the cartoonist james thurber is. yes, he is a cousin of mine. to change the constitution you need an amendment to the constitution and that is why it is almost impossible to get it through. that is why the alternative for the states to come up with a compact that affectively then becomes a basis of a popular vote for the selection of the president's.

host: the history of winning the electoral college, but losing the electoral vote, how significant is that one? guest: it has happened three or four times. let me explain. three times, and the last one was in 2000 when bush lost the electoral college vote -- host: the popular vote. guest: yes, sorry. and he won the electoral college vote. there were also a couple of other times in the 1800's. 1824 is listed as one of those times. there, they had six states where the state legislature selected who the president would be. and we do not really know who the popular vote was. host: and in 1876 are rutherford b. hayes.

and in 1888, benjamin harrison guest: 1824, it was john quincy adams over a andrew jackson. it was controversial and went into the house of representatives and they selected john adams. host: what is the history of this when there was not so much severity between the electoral vote and the part of a vote? guest: history shows the people guest: the history shows people were outramed but went on through their lives and we had a president. it's amazing in 2000 everyone accepted the outcough the election because it wept to the supreme court, 5-4 decision, selected president bush and it was a period of time where we went on and he governed and people accepted that. it's a form of democracy we have and it has a certain amount of stability this institution. that's another positive aspect

of it. host: ben is our next caller in turlock, california, republican line. good morning, ben. caller: my question was, first of all, to get in the studies of presidential studies and you're the director, are you part of electoral college? and the other thing is, is the electoral college specifically not made up of someone in that specific political, you know, foreground, like, say, any senators or any, i don't know, governors or any ex-governors, anybody who -- >> you can see this entire "washington journal" segment on our website, c-span.org. now we take you live to the house floor.

[captioning made possible by

the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

will. >> the pineapple fields in the agriculture fields. the fundamental economy of the state of why, the conditions were not good. they worked hard. but they raise their families with pride and dignity and honor. we are proud to call them americans. we are as proud as any. as we know, one of the more shameful chapters of american history took place during world war ii. an incredible act of injustice

in the united states of america, which was decided to in turn as japanese-americans who lived in california. they were put into internment camps because they happen to be japanese-americans. not because they didn't love america or had done something wrong by the way, some is internment camps were in my home state of arizona . in hawaii, there was a group of young japanese-americans who decided they wanted to serve their country and served their uniform.

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are -- the speaker: on this vote, the

yeas are 286, the nays are 10. 2/3 of those being in the affirmative, the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut rise? >> mr. speaker, one minute out of order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. >> thank you, mr. speaker. on friday morning, i brought my 4-year-old to school, dropped him off at 8:45 just like millions of other parents do all across this country. a few hours later, i saw him again. big smile on his face. in newtown, connecticut, on friday, 20 points dropped their first graders off at sandy hook

elementary or kissed them good-bye as they got on the school bus an that was the last time they saw their kids. something horrible, something unexplainable happened at sandy hook elementary last week. mr. murphy: when people asked me how are folks doing, i tell them, right now there's a lot of blank looks, these people are trying to process what happened. 20 gleaming, beautiful children were gunned down along with six adults who loved them dearly. by a young man with a sickness that masqueraded as evil that day. so we're left asking, why us is? -- why us? why these little kids? the whys are almost infinite. and in the coming days and weeks, i guess we'll get some answers. but most of them won't have

answers. when you peek through this vast darkness of the last few days, there's one thing we know for certain. if we wondered what kind of community newtown was, if we doubted our love for one another, those questions have been answered and been answered definitively. they were answered by the principal, who told her colleagues to run one way so she could run the other way, directly toward the gunman. they were answered by victoria soto who hid her kids in a closet and shielded her kids with her body. we have the answers in the emotions that have overflowed

in the days since the tragedy. a community pouring out love. i went to the first of too many funeral this is morning and the last thing we know is this. all those wonderful little faces you see on tv and in the newspaper, like noah pozner, who was laid to rest this morning, a reminder that despite the terrible, awful things that happened, inside the hearts of all of us is this unbelievable goodness. that's all noah pozner had was goodness, purity of spirit. newtown will survive this because they're a close town. it hurts more because they're close but they'll survive because they're close. these 20 little kids are just asking this little town to remember how good they were and

try to survive. the thoughts and prayers of others matter as they recover. i want to thank everyone here for all the individual love you've showered down upon our little town. i want to thank the connecticut delegation here with me today for all of their support. it helps in some small way to know that the world is grieving with us. so mr. speaker, i would ask that the house would rise. the speaker: the chair would ask all present to rise and observe a moment of silence.

the speaker: without objection, five-minute voting will continue. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion from the gentleman from utah mr. bishop to suspend the rules and pass s. 3193 on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 3193, an act to make technical crecks to the legal description of certain land to be held in trust for the barona band of mission indians and for other purposes. the speaker: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill? members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 306, the nays are 3, 2/3 being in the affirmative, without objection the bill is passed and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is

agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal which the speaker will put de novo. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, the journal stands approved.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will come to order. the house will please come to order. members will please clear the well. members please clear the well. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? the house will come to order. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition?

>> thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that the committee on education and the work force be discharged from further consideration of house resolution 833, ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 833, resolution condemning the horrific attacks in newtown, connecticut, and expressing support and prayers for all those impacted by this tragedy. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to the consideration of the resolution? the chair hears none. the gentleman from minnesota is recognized for one hour. >> mr. speaker, i yield myself a moment to briefly offer my heartfelt condolences to the families of newtown, connecticut fment what happened -- connecticut. what happened last friday is simply unspeakable. mr. klein: and we as a nation -- kline cloon and we as a nation -- mr. kline: and we as a nation are devastated. in the face of such tragedy it is our duty to gather together

and honor the memory of the victims. let us stand united in offering our prayers to the families an friends. mr. speaker, i yield my time to the gentleman from connecticut, mr. murphy, and ask unanimous consent that he be granted -- be permitted to control the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yieldsing his time to the gentleman from connecticut. without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. murphy: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may cool. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. murphy: i thank the chairman very much for his kind words and for his generosity in allowing us to have this time on the floor this evening. to both remember the 26 individuals who were brutally murdered on friday morning in the village of sandy hook and the town of newtown, connecticut, but also to start to paint a pathway forward.

right now newtown, connecticut, is grieving. deeply. it's going to be grieving for a long time. because frankly we're just in the process of figuring out to what to think about this. never mind understanding how to recover. but this morning at the first of what will be far too many funerals, you could start to see through the darkness, a glimmer of how we figure out a way out of this. little noah pozner was buried this morning by his parents and by his family. noah was an amazing little 6-year-old. not unlike most other precocious 6-year-olds. he loved role playing, he was mischievous, he was smart as a whip. he always talked about what he wanted to do in life. what he wanted to be. one day he'd say he wanted to be a doctor. another day he'd say he wanted to be a police officer. most days his mom said he wanted to be a taco store owner. he loved tacos.

that was his dream. in life. and what we've seen on tv and in newspapers is these faces, these beautiful, gleaming, pure faces of these 20 first graders who perished. and while all of our hearts are just sick with grief, we know that their purity and their love is going to be the inspiration for the little community of newtown, and frankly this whole country and this whole world to figure out how to recover. i've been there on the ground since friday afternoon. almost nonstop. and newtown is asking itself lots of questions, about why it happened to us, what could we have done, why did this guy do it? and as i just said on the house floor, you know, those questions are going to stick around for a

while. but what you see in newtown today is just this overyou a bun dant love. within hours -- overyou a bun dant love. within hours the fire station was filled with counselors, filled with public safety personnel, filled with food food, filled with everything that could possibly support these families. and those offers of help and those offers of support that just kept on coming an kept on coming. and what's also emerged are the stories of what happened that day. certainly the tragedy and the horror is first and foremost. but underneath that is heroism. only the beginnings of which we know right now. this is a great school, first of all. this is the best school in newtown, one of the best in the entire state. and it's become of a principal named dawn hochsprung. dawn was a great principal, right until the end. she was in a meeting when it happened. she told the people in the meeting to run the other way so

that she could run directly to the shooter to try to disarm him. a young teacher, victoria society o', had -- soto, had the soundness of mind to tell herr kids to hide in the closs -- tell her kids to hide in the closet. she told the shooter that the students were in the gymnasium, somewhere else in the building. and she didn't survive, but many of her students did because of what she did. and you start to hear more snippets of teachers who got their colleagues out the window, of kindergarten teachers who huddled their kids, kept them quiet, hummed to them, read them quiet stories so they wouldn't be overheard. you start to know what kind of community newtown is and you start to understand how newtown survives. i feel like i've done a lot of talking the last four days, both

publicly and to families and to community members. so i want to make sure that this is an hour where those who have been grieving all across the country can come and share their thoughts as well. we've offered a resolution tonight which expresses both our outrage at what happened that day, but also our great sympathy. it does help to know that people from all around the country, from every congressional district and from every country around the world are grieving with us. only bits and pieces of that seeps through that wall of misery that surrounds newtown now, but when it does pierce that veil, it helps. we're going to have a lot of time over the next few days and weeks to talk about what we do next and i'm sure we'll have some of that discussion tonight. i'll join that conversation when it's right and i don't begrudge

anybody that has it today. it's important to talk about how we move forward and how we make sure this never, ever happens again. so for those of us in newtown, we remember those 20 kids and those six adults. charlotte bacon, daniel barden, rachel davino, olivia rose engel, josephine gay, dawn hochsprung, dylan hockley, madeleine hsu, catherine hubbard , chase kowalski, jesse lewis, ana grace marquez-greene, james mattioli, grace mcdonnell, anne marie murphy, emilie parker, jack pinto, noah ponser --

ponser, -- pozner, jessica rekos, avielle richman, laura rousseau, mary cher lack, victoria soto, benjamin wheeler, and allison wyatt. we're going to remember those people for a long time in newtown. we're going to grieve with them and their families. we're also going to take their memories, the beauty of those kids, the heroism of those adults and let it point us, let it point the strong, close-knit community of newtown, connecticut, let it point us to a way that we can survive. with that i'd like to yield to my friend from the third district in connecticut,

representative rosa delauro, five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. ms. delauro: i thank the gentleman and i thank him for the depth of his feeling and the work that he has done over the last several days to help bring some solace and peace to families who have been so struck by the devastation in newtown, connecticut. i strongly support this resolution and condemn, as my colleagues do, the vicious attack at the sandy hook elementary school and commemorate our students and children who were struck down in this tragedy. it was overwhelming, i think all of us at the memorial service last night were overwhelmed. it was a slaughter of the innocent. every parent and grarned parent

sees in the eyes and the smiles and the looks on those children's faces who we lost their own children and their grandchildren. knowing that happened. what happened in newtown is unthinkable. a normal friday morning, in the midst of a holiday season, sandy hook elementary school, a place where children should be safe to learn, to grow, suddenly, without warning, became a place of senseless violence. within minutes the actions of a young and mentally ill man devastated a smalltown community, broken the hearts of millions across the country and murdered six teachers and administrators and 20 be in the

children -- innocent children, all of them between 6 and 7 years old. they're that big. they are that big. such an unspeakable crime seems impossible to make sense of. how could this young man kill so many innocents? how could so many beautiful little angels with their whole lives ahead of them be taken from their families? they were just babies. they were just babies. it's hard to witness such a senseless and evil act. and similar acts that some of my colleagues in this chamber have faced, in aurora and portland, tucson, littleton. you can't help but feel a despairing of the soul. you know, we in this institution cannot afford that luxury. we need to be strong. for the families of the fallen in newtown. and for the families of children

all over america. to the newtown community and to all the connecticut families and parents and the siblings who have been touched by what happened on friday, our thoughts and our prayers are with you. what you are going through is undescribeble. we can be sympathetic, we can be everyone thetic, we do not know that sense of despair that you feel. but you must know that our nation shares and mourns your loss. i too, as my colleague, chris murphy, acknowledged, the tremendous heroism of the adults who were killed on friday. individuals like principal dawn hock sfrung, who ran -- hochsprung, who ran at the assassin, told people to run away from them in order to protect her kids in the school.

the school teacher, vickie soto, stratford, connecticut, and i represent stratford, connecticut, who in the heat of a terrible moment gave her life to protect her students, she hid them. she hid them and lost her life in doing so. they all died in the line of duty. they are heroes and heroines them. gave their lives to protect those children that they deal with every day, that they educate, that they care for and that they love as if they were their own. to the first responders who put their lives on the line, to stop the senseless killing in sandy hook, we say thank you for your courage and for preventing more young lives from being lost, for they too ran into a building, not knowing what they were going to face. moving forward, we in this institution have to take

commonsense, constructive steps that will help to ensure these sorts of tragedies will not happen again. and they include ensuring better access to quality mental health care, strengthening programs so that communities will have the necessary mental health resources. we've heard so much in the last several days about how we need to secure the physical plant of the school. and, yes, we need to do that. they need to be secure. but we cannot turn them into prisons for these young people. i wish and hope that at the same time we're talking about those kinds of efforts, that we talk about putting a mental health professional in our schools. that is security as well as stationing police cruisers in front of our schools. it means doing everything in our power to prevent guns from falling into the hands of violent criminals. and giving law enforcement

officials the tools they need. the president said last night, caring for our children must be our first task and we can no longer tolerate these tragedies and we must change. he asked if we are doing what we can to protect our children and he said that answer must be no. and we need to protect them. at a more fundamental level, we contribute let this terrible tragedy harden our hearts against our fellow men and women. in the words of dr. martin luther king, and i quote, darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. hate cannot drive out hate. only love can do that. so let us honor the fallen in newtown by doing everything that we can to prevent these tragedies in the future. let us follow the example. . let us follow the example of those heroes who perished and renew our faith in love,

compassion and community, let's hold our children and grandchildren close, love them, and tell them that you love them as many times as you are able. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the speaker. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed to inform the house that the senate has passed s. 4372, cited as the scholars act u.s.a. in which the concordance of the house is requested. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from connecticut is recognized. mr. murphy: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.res. 323. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. murphy: i yield three minutes to mr. larson. the speaker pro tempore: thank you, mr. speaker, thank you,

mr. murphy. mr. larson: we just came from a vigil on the senate side that senator lieberman, senator plumen -- blumen thall, former senator dodd were at and all of us had the opportunity to be there. joe courtney, when he spoke, spoke of our colleague chris murphy and the incredible job that he's done for his district and for our state. when you hear him speak on the floor about quintessential new england, the community he represented for six years in

newtown and the little village of sandy hook, you understand that this is a man who truly represents the people of his district and this great state. all of us have been shocked by the events that have transpired . many things will be said. dick blumen that will, elizabeth -- blumenthal, elizabeth espy, the representative elect, have been there for the last four days. the whole world has looked in on this horrific event, and

parents across this country and all across the world understood implicitly what we all fear, the unspeakable. a parent describing a trip in an automobile from bridge port to newtown, racing to get there, to see whether their child was alive, had survived. and the joy when they were able to see their kids, and the complete and utter despair when your child was not one of the

kids who came out. chris murphy and dick blumenthal and elizabeth espy, our colleagues, were there. these first responders who came on the scene and prevented the loss of more lives deserve our unending thanks. the great coordination by our state police and local police, everything that transpired, all the volunteers that participated, the teachers, the professionalism that they exhibited, the execution of a drill that they have been through time and again and as rosa talked about the principal and the teach whore sheltered her children and gave her own life, these are difficult

things. as chris has so eloquently said, we're seeking answers and know that we must move on and where do you find the strength? we found the strength in a great leader and governor, dan malloy, who has been there all four days and beyond. and at the vigil last evening when the president and he speak in an ecumenical gathering, he said, as winter approaches, and snow begins to fall, i will always think of these children as precious snow flakes during this winter of events. but i am heartened by the fact that every spring, when the flowers bloom, we will think of

their precious memory as well. our president said that the people of newtown were inspirational. indeed, they are. let me just, if i may, just close briefly -- mr. murphy: i yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds. mr. larson: cleo, the muse of history used to sit above this chamber. the muse of history's responsibility was to sit there, as you see the statuary in -- the statue in statuary hall, with a pen and notebook to record our actions. we have been sent here to perform a duty.

not only the muse of history but the world is watching the united states congress and we have a responsibility to respond in the most comprehensive way. this is an attack of terrorism. this happened all too often, all too frequently across this country. and in such an attack, we review -- we will do everything in our power to make sure no stone was left unturned, to make sure we provided every answer and every opportunity that we can as rosa said to protect our children. that's why we take an oath of office here. that is our god-given responsibility. we must act and act now. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. murphy: thank you. at this point, i queeled five minutes to the gentleman from

connecticut, mr. courtney. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. courtney: thank you, mr. speaker. again, i want to begin by saluting my colleague from connecticut, chris murphy, who over the last 72 hours has been the voice of a community of western connecticut and newtown, in particular. he has handled his role in that capacity with poise and decorum and taste. it really is something that i think we should all in this chamber be so proud of. and i would also want to mention that he did it as a father, someone who has a 4-year-old son, owen, who i'm sure was seeing all around him the events that were unfolding, the unspeakable horror, again, in the eyes of a parent, of a child, really of the same age group. and again we are just so lucky to have had his amazing leadership over the last three or four days. you know, the president last night opened his remarks about

how the town of newtown is like many communities in america. to a point, it's true. 29,000 tight knit, very small town, but it is a town that frankly is above average in many instances. it is a school system that scores at the absolute top of the mastery tests in the state of connecticut. and that doesn't happen by accident. it's because it has parents and staff that year in and year out have been so committed to making sure that children succeed and excel and really has been a model for the state of connecticut and our country, when education really still is i think one of the most important challenges that we need to succeed at as a country. and for this event to happen, at sandy hook elementary school a school when i was sitting with the board of education last night, where all of them were talking about their kids who have gone through sandy hook and now were successfully

pursuing careers in new york and the west coast and in connecticut. really, again, it was just -- it juster to the heart out of this community. it's a community where they had one act of homicide over the last 10 years and to see those police officers come down the aisle having again to respond to this unspeakable horror and to see the looks on their face and the emotional drain that took place, it really, again was just something that was so out of any norm for any community but certainly in particular for the town of newtown and as chris said, in every instance, whether it was the principal, the teachers, the parent the first responders, the care givers, in every instance they rose to the challenge. they did their job. victoria soto, the teacher who shielded and literally saved the lives of at least half a dozen students was in the middle of a lesson when this person burst into her classroom and in 10 minutes from

beginning to end, since this debate has started, the event had already reached its conclusion, in the time we have been on the floor. for her to think so quickly and react so courageously, again, an act of human excellence that i think all of us who wonder whether or not we ourselves could ever possibly have done the same. but her example, the example of the police and the e.m.s., the example of the doctors and nurses who again responded so quickly, frankly, i see that as a challenge to this congress. they acted. they did what they were supposed to do. as the -- as the president said last night, if you believe that the measure of a society is how we protect our children, if you're honest, you have to answer that we really are not doing all that we can do, then frankly it is time for us to follow the example of the victoria sotos and to act.

this resolution tonight is so important to begin that first step but the fact of the matter is, there is much more that needs to be done. this morning as i was driving to the airport on the back roads of connecticut, i went by a number of elementary schools, at every single one of them there was a police cruiser at the entrance. the state police and local police departments were being thoughtful. they wanted to make sure parents an kids, when they were going to school, felt safe. after all they'd seen on the tv over the weekend, that it was ok to go in the entrance of their schools. but that is not an answer. to say that we are going to turn our schools into foretreses is not where we should be as a nation. we need to go deeper in terms of solving this problem. -- this problem of mass killings and a violence that now again is striking at the most innocent in our society. and again, i look forward to working with the gentleman from the fifth district over the next few days and then he takes his new duties as the new

senator from the state of connecticut, to make sure that the people in that room last night who were listening to the president, the people in our state, the people in our country, the people in the world that are now watching us, that we make sure that we deliver just like the brave people of the town of newtown did over this past weekend. with that, i yield back. mr. murphy: thank you, mr. courtney. at this point, i yield five minutes to the gentleman from connecticut, mr. hines. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hines: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to begin by thanking my friend and colleague from connecticut, congressman murphy, not just for introducing this resolution but for his strength of spirit as he has comforted some people who have lived through something that none of us would ever want to live through. as congressman murphy noted, no -- noah pozner, a 6-year-old boy, was buried today, as was jack pinto, another 6-year-old boy. i looked at the photographs of

the parents at those funerals and tried to imagine the bottomless grief, the anger, the questions they must have. and of course that's impossible. and of course at the very front of those questions is the question of why? something that we'll all strug. with -- struggle with individually, reverting probably onto the imperfect tenets of our face as we consider how a supposedly benevolent god could allow this slaughter of innocents to happen. we won't answer that question and last night with the president and with my family, by which i mean my colleagues from connecticut, as we listened to the president and listened to the sighs and gasps of the -- of the families in the community of newtown, it's clear there's no answer to that question of why. a line of poetry kept running through my head, thomas hardy,

in one of his poems, asked, how arrives it joy lies slain and why unbloomed the best hope ever sown? we won't answer that question, but that question and its unanswerability will transform itself into a burden that we all will and must bear. . particularly those of us who are entrusted by our constituents with one thing which is to make sure that this does not happen again. and i don't think there's any risk at all that we can't do that. in a country awash in guns, and not just guns for hunter or for the person who wishes to protect him or herself, but guns that

were designed with the explicit purpose of killing as many people as rapidly as possible. not in a country that has raised violence to a secular religion, to a pastime, to a hobby, to a solution to our problems. and not in a country that seems to have forgotten that it's not just our close families, it's not just the small connecticut delegation that is a family, but that we are a national family and that we have obligations of responsibility, one to each other. that there's a clear answer to that anshenlt biblical question, am i my brother's keeper, and that that answer is yes. so he don't think there's any risk that we can't act.

but i think there is a profound risk that just as after aroarow, just as after oregon, just as after columbine, we won't act. and that's not good enough. i'll tell you how i'm going to challenge myself. i'm going to imagine noah and jack, 6-year-olds who nobody really knew. i didn't know them. their parents didn't really know them. didn't know where they'd go to college, what they'd grow up to be, who they'd take to a prom. i'm going to imagine them standing right here. and that's not hard for me with a 10-year-old and a 13-year-old at home. looking up and asking, will you do it? thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time.

mr. murphy: thank you, mr. speaker. may i inquire as to the time remaining? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has 33 minutes remaining. mr. murphy: thank you, mr. speaker. we've got a number of speakers so we'll try to give a minute and a half to as many as we can and i'd yield now 90 seconds to the gentlelady from colorado, ms. degette. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. degette: not again. we all said it to ourselves in the split second we heard it on friday. not again. then when we heard about the victims, we knew it was different. 20 little children slaughtered in their classrooms. in our sadness we know our society bears responsibility because we have not done enough to protect our children. we have not been able to get a grip on the increasing incidence of gun massacres and because that have we have failed our children. in the wake of newtown, this

country must really have a conversation about our views on violence, our views on guns, and how we're going to respond to people who are obviously mentally ill. certainly through that conversation we can find consensus around reasonable solutions to keep these killing machines out of the hands of impaired individuals. there's not one magic solution. it's not one thing, it's many things. it starts by us having inward conversations with ourselves and our families. it then starts by creating a more comprehensive and effective mental health system. and then we have to have a meaningful conversation about gun violence in our country. we are never going to be able to stop a deranged individual from going into a school or a movie theater or a shopping mall to shoot people. but if you limit the weapons and the ammunition available to them, you can give the people in their sights some fighting

chance to stop that killer. of the 12th deadliest shooting massacres in history, six have occurred since 2007. in 1999, in my second term of congress, i dealt with the devastation of columbine which is now in my district. just this summer i stood here like the connecticut representatives -- can i have 30 additional seconds? thank you. i stood right here with my representatives from colorado, like the connecticut delegation, and warned our friends in aurora, and now again we stand here. we can start by passing a bill this beak to ban high-capacity ammo clips, the same kind this killer used and the same kind the killer in aurora used. my colleagues and i have a bill to do just that and we're going to urge the republican leadership to do that this week. but after that we have to have that conversation, as parents,

as neighbors, as friends, and the custodians of those 20 courageous little souls and the adults who tried to protect them. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. mr. murphy: thank you. at this time i'd yield one minute to the gentlelady from illinois, ms. schakowsky. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. schakowsky: as a mother and grandmother, i offer my words to the mountains of condolences to the families of the 20 children and the six heroic adults in newtown, connecticut. all of america is mourning with us -- mourning with you. but with you owe you more than our grief and condolences. it is almost unthinkable that a school could be the scene of such horror. parents across the nation are worrying about how to keep their own children safe and the terrible truth is that children in the united states are 13 times more likely to be killed by gun violence than children in other industrialized countries. we need to close the gun control loophole and require criminal background checks for anyone

purchasing a gun, a proposal supported by 74% of n.r.a. members and 96% of all americans. we must outlaw assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips. these are weapons of mass destruction, made for the military battlefields, not our neighborhoods. and it is time to grieve. it is time to act. to end the gun violence before we lose more of our precious children and loved ones. and i yield back. mr. murphy: thank you, mr. speaker. at this point i'd yield a minute and half to the gentlelady from nork, mrs. mccarthy. the speaker pro tempore: zwrealt is recognized. -- the gentlelady is recognized. mr. mccarthy: thank you, mr. speaker. and -- mrs. mccarthy: thank you, mr. speaker. and i want to thank my colleague. i know what you're going through, i know what your district is going through, and i want you to know that the people of the united states of america are saying their prayers for all of your constituents and

certainly for the children. i rise in support of h.r. -- resolution 833. as someone whose family has been a victim of gun violence, my heart goes out to the victims and the families of this horrific tragedy. i know what it's like to lose someone you love. and i offer my deepest sympathies and our prayers for those that have been affected. and to be very honest with you, i know that victims across this country that have been affected by gun violence, they are with you and they will be with you. and it breaks my heart to think of the holidays coming up and christmas and the children not going to be there to open up their gifts, the parents going to their bedrooms and not seeing

anybody there. i know there are an awful lot of unanswered questions right now, and those answers will come soon , but i have to say, as some of my colleagues have said, that enough, enough. more people have died in the last several years than the whole vietnam war. more people are injured. i will just say, the first responders, the police officers, our prayers will be there and i swear to god i will do everything in my power to make this a safer country for our children. thank you. i yield back. mr. murphy: i thank the gentlelady. at this point i'd yield a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from pennsylvania, ms. schwartz. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. schwartz: the sandy hook

elementary school shooting was shattering for americans everywhere. for such an unspeakable act of violence to take place at an elementary school, a place of safety, learning and lively spirits was devastating. my own sons are grown but my memories from their first days at school are still very vivid. the shooting is both deeply personal family tragedy and a tragedy for the community of newtown and for our nation. i along with all american parents feel the loss personally. it brought not only tears but also deep sadness. the youngest victims were 6, 7. it's unacceptable. we feel the loss of each child, so innocent, so joyful, their hopes, their dreams and their potential never to be fulfilled. and we mourn the loss of the teachers and staff who were a comfort to their students and who did all that they could to protect them. my thoughts and my prayers are with each of the families and all of newtown.

we have seen far too many moments of violence and loss. this loss is too devastating to ignore. i believe that even in this time of deep sadness and grief we must resolve to end such violence. we must do better to understand and treat mental illness and we must come together to move our nation towards commonsense, reasonable gun laws. laws that recognize the responsibility of gun ownership and ensure safety and security in our homes and our schools and our communities and in our public spaces. one of the nation's greatest strengths that we have as americans, and as a people is that our nation and each of us are so resilient. and we must use that resilience to not only grieve together, at this really difficult time, but to work together to prevent yet another devastating act of violence and to be shattered once again. we should act and i join with my

colleagues in a willingness and commitment to do so. mr. murphy: thank you. i yield another minute and a half to the gentlelady from maryland, ms. edwards. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. edwards: thank you, mr. speaker. and i thank the gentleman from connecticut, both for your leadership and i share in your absolute sorrow. and to honor the memory of the 20 children and six educators who lost their lives in this really horrific attack at sandy hook elementary school in newtown, connecticut. my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families and our first responders and all of those both in newtown and across this country who are affected by this tragedy. first as a mother my heart truly aches for the parents who lost their children, young and old. lost their future. but as a member of congress, i also know that we're not doing nearly enough to protect our children and to protect our communities from gun violence. in cities and rural areas, schools, offices and homes, this

has happened far too many times in far too many communities all across our country. in my district alone, there have been over 160 incidences of gun violence in -- this year. and 46 people in my district have lost their lives to gun violence this year. i think about 6-year-old amar'e perkins who lost his life to gun violence, just miles from the nation's capitol, and 17-year-old amber stanley who lost her life to gun violence. this is a really complex problem that requires complex policy solutions, but the complexity should not keep us from doing what it is that we need to do to protect our children. whether those children are in newtown or in any town across this country. and the question i think we have to ask ourselves, mr. speaker, is how many more tragic and senseless acts of violence have to take place before congress is compelled to take truly meaningful action? we can